Well-strainer.



M. E. LAYNE. WELL STRAINER.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 11, 1909.

Patented Aug. 29, 1911.

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Leonesa sfrarn MAHLON E. LAYNE, OF HOUSTON, TEXS. i

WELL-STRAINER.

To all whom 'it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, MAHLoN E. Larme, citizen of the United States, residing at Houston, in the county of Harris and State of Texasfhave invented certain new and use ful Improvements in fell-Strainers, of

' which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to'well screens. A better screen than the wire wound strainer now commonly in use has beensought for a long time. The wire wound strainer is practical and efficient, but it has Some objections. Itis expensivel and the.

, becomes unfastened and the screen ineffecprovision 'of interior braces; the provision of inclined deiiecting walls; and the pro- 1 vision of a strainer oiferin'gcomparatively no resistance to Aan upward passage of liquid, but obstructing a horizontal passage of liquid or foreign matter.

Finally the object of the invention is to provide a strainer that will be strong, durable, eiiicient vand simple and comparatively inexpensive to produce, also one in which the` several parts will not be likely to get out of working order.

With the above and other -objects in view, the invention has relation to certain novel features vof construction and operation, an example of which is described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, whe-rein:

Figure 1 is a-view in elevation showing a plurality of sections of the strainer secured together, Fig. 2 is a partial vertical section of the strainer, Fig. 3 is a horizontal cross sectional view, and Fig. 4 is a detail of. a

`modified form; t

In the drawings the numeral -1 designates thesstrainer which is preferably formed of sheet metal. The strainer is made in tubular form and is produced by' bndin'ga sheet of metal into form and .suitably securing thel .55

longitudinal edges in a seam.

The body after-being suitablyv formed is .Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Angl, 299 j g,

V Application filed November 11. 1909.

serial No. 527,363.

provided with a plurality of horizontal openings 2 and 3. These openings are arranged in vertical rows with vertical solid portions 4 therebetween. These solid portions are .comparatively narrow especially when coinpared with the lengt-h of the openings. The I openings 2 are disposed in staggered relation to Jehe openings 3, that is each alter` nate row has its openings substantially parallel with the next alternate row. This ar rangement is provided so as not to weaken the strainerl and to prevent the openings of adjacent rows breaking through the portions 4.

'Ity is to be noted that in forming the openings nothing more than slits are made, no metal being4 cut away. By suitable means the webs 5 between thehopenings of a row are bent inward at their upper ends and forced slightly outward at their lower ends thus providing upwardly and inwardly inclined wallsor webs formed at an angle to v the vertical side ofthe strainer. ITt is obvious that by thisconstruction extremely narrow openings are presented to a lateral force, whileonl the other hand compar ativel'y no obstruction 'is presented to an upwardpassagejthe inclined webshaving a tendencyv to deiiecta liquid passing therethrough, to the center of the strainer. Ankother advantage incident to my construction resides in the fact that amount of power vnecessary to slit the metal and press it out is very much less than would be necessary to cut out sections of metal to form slots. Furthermore it will be seen that the width of slots may bel variefLby simply varying the distance which the dies pass each other, in the formation of the slits, so that only one set of dies is necessary.

By observing Fig. 53 itwill be the upper portions of the webs being pronoted that` jected inward and curved form interiorv braces which greatly strengthen the strainer and add to its stability. It has been shown by a test that a strainer constructed as herein described is considerably stronger in collapsible strength 'than a similar body i having no openings or cuts. This is due to the bending vof the webs and the interior braces formed thereby,

This strainer is designed for gravel and coarse sand and it is apparent that by varying thefangle at which the webs are bent, the" openings therebetween may be increased or diminished in sizso that different gages of lar-8. However it is to be understood that the sections may be connectedin any suitable way.

In Fig. 4l have shown a lslightly modified form in which'the lower portion of the webs 5 are corrugated longitudinally of the strainer 'as shown at 9. This may be done so that where a flat obstruction rests against the lower edges of the webs, it will not prohibit the upward passage of a liquid.

It will be noted that in the strainer as just described, the tendency of sand or dirt to collect at the slits and clog them is reduced by reason of the fact that the slits open downwardly, so that the tendency of particles ofsand or dirt is to drop away from the opening instead of settling therein, and that in the case of those particles which are of suficient size to pass the slit there is no tendency to clog after the narrowest portion thereof is passed dueto the fact that the size of the passage or opening increases after the narrow portion is passed.

While the screening slits are shown as horizontal, it will be understood that the ini vention broadly contemplates other arrangements, the only requirement being that the slits extend circumferentially, that is, at an angle to the axisvof the screen instead of parallel thereto, the .scope of the invention,

side of the edge above the slit,and with the v inner corner of the edge above each slit opposite the outer corner of the edge below the slit.

2. A. welll screen comprising a tubular member provided-in its sides with a series of v adjacent slits 'substantially parallel with, each other, and directed circumferentially,l

with the strips of metal between the slits inclined outwardly from their upper to theirv lower edges, so that the inner corner of the edge above each slit lies opposite and ad]a cent the outer cornerof the edge below the slit.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MAHLoN E. LAYNE. Witnesses Y 

